SMSF investors and their professional advisers could be missing out on significant tax advantages by simply being unaware of the deductions they can claim, according to one tax depreciation expert.

BMT Tax Depreciation chief executive Bradley Beer said that while many SMSF trustees are taking full advantage of the tax benefits associated with property depreciation, many investors “aren’t doing it properly”.

“A while ago we ran a campaign testing how many people were failing to maximise their depreciation deductions and we found 80 per cent of the respondents needed to improve,” Mr Beer said.

He pointed to several areas where SMSF investors and their advisers are potentially missing out on significant deductions.

“Common or shared areas in unit complexes are often missed. An SMSF may also invest in a commercial property because they run a business from that property and hold it in their SMSF. Sometimes people think because it’s their own property and they’re running a business from that maybe they’re not able to claim deductions but they actually are,” Mr Beer said.

“I’d say the myth that old property doesn’t get it would be the most common. Older property still gets depreciation, it just doesn’t get as much,” he added.

Mr Beer encouraged SMSF investors to have a proper depreciation schedule to ensure they maximise their tax deductions each financial year.